Friday, February 10, 2006

Although its latest announcement on Feb. 9 left out some important technical details, such as when the software might be available and exactly how it works, RIM backed up its earlier promise of an emergency plan.

The Canadian company is in the throes of a patent infringement dispute that could shut down service for its handheld devices. A federal judge is expected to rule Feb. 24 on a possible injunction that would bar RIM from using technology to which NTP, an intellectual property company, claims it has patent rights.

RIM officials said it plans to include the contingency software on new devices soon and that the software can be activated remotely if the judge issues an injunction to shut down its service. [SF Chronicle]

BlackBerry users are pleased that Research In Motion plans to make workaround software available to keep the service working in the U.S., even if the U.S. District Court issues an injunction in the ongoing patent litigation. But IT managers want more time to test the software and decide whether it's the best contingency plan for their corporate BlackBerry users.

Take law firm Kirkland & Ellis for example, which has 1,500 BlackBerry users. CIO Steve Novak says it would take time to evaluate RIM's workaround and the impact it might have on the company's messaging systems.

Like Novak, many IT managers are eager to understand how the workaround software would work. So far, RIM has disclosed that its workaround designs include a software update called the BlackBerry Multi-Mode Edition, which RIM claims to have developed and tested already. The software can operate in different modes, such as "standard mode" during normal operation or "U.S. mode" if the service is shut down. It's wirelessly activated by RIM through its network operations center.

Existing customers will be able to download the software from RIM's website, allowing them to continue getting the BlackBerry service. If an injunction is issued barring the sale of new products, RIM says it will pre-load the software onto BlackBerry devices and incorporate it into the BlackBerry Enterprise Server software before the devices are shipped.

Few believe that the court injunction will come to be, as RIM is likely to settle before the court reaches such a decision; however, the uncertainty has been unsettling and no doubt many corporate users will be looking again at their purchasing policies and the decisions that led them to putting all their mobile e-mail eggs in one basket, service, and device.

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I'm a patent lawyer located in central New Jersey. I have a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where I studied graphite intercalation compounds at the Center for Materials Research. I worked at Exxon Corporate Research in areas ranging from engine deposits through coal and petroleum to fullerenes. An article that I wrote in The Trademark Reporter, 1994, 84, 379-407 on color trademarks was cited by Supreme Court in Qualitex v. Jacobson, 514 US 159 (1995) and the methodology was adopted
in the Capri case in N.D. Ill. An article that I wrote on DNA profiling was cited by the Colorado Supreme Court (Shreck case) and a Florida appellate court (Brim case). I was interviewed by NHK-TV about the Jan-Hendrik Schon affair. I am developing ipABC, an entity that combines rigorous IP analytics with study of business models, to optimize utilization of intellectual property. I can be reached at C8AsF5 at yahoo.com.